Echo in the Emptiness
by Crimson Eyed Angel
Summary: Sakura just wanted to save him. How was she to know that in the end she would be the one to get saved? KakashiSakura. One Shot.


Summary: Sakura just wanted to save him. How was she to know that in the end she would be the one to get saved?

Ok this is a one shot. My favorite pairing. I hope you like it I put a lot of thought into it. Well please review! Oh and I made up the genjutsu so I don't think its in the show lol. What Sakura does to…(I'm trying to think of how to say this w/o spoiling it) get rid of the genjutsu may seem a little lame but just go with it. Some of the conversation at the end may be hard to follow but just remember which is talking and which is thinking and that everything is in Sakura's POV.

READ THIS FIRST:

Ok so to establish the back round Sakura felt left behind by team 7 so she went to train on her own getting help from whoever (its not important). So she is also ANBU now (so is Sasuke and Naruto) she hasn't spoken to any of them in a long time since she always keeps herself busy with missions. She used to be close with Kakashi before the teams falling out and always cared about him, Sasuke and Naruto like family even though things didn't turn out well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

And I don't own the song "Down" By: Something Corporate (and the title of this fic is from the song to)

_Italics are song lyrics._

"word" Talking

'word' thinking

Enjoy the show.

_**Let's get drunk  
You can drive us to the harbor**_

'What could be wrong with him?'

_**Wish upon a star but  
Do you know what stars are?**_

Sakura ran as fast as she could toward the hospital. She burst through the doors and up the flight of stairs to the room she didn't know if she wanted to enter.

She couldn't enter anyway since Tsunade was standing in front of the door. "What's wrong, what happened?"

"He won't wake up".

_**Falling from the landscape  
Exploding in the face of God**_

Sakura's blood ran cold. "What do you mean… Of course he'll wake up". Tsunade looked at Sakura with soft eyes. "But he hasn't".

Sakura slowly turned her head to looked trough the little window in the door. There he was just laying on the table his Kanoha headband off, just laying there looking so… helpless. "I can't see him… I don't want to see him like that".

_**Let's get crazy,  
Talk about our big plans  
Places that you're going  
Places that I haven't been**_

"Sakura you don't have to go see him but…" Tsunade spoke carefully "We think he's in a Genjutsu that's doing this to him, it's making him realize all of his past mistakes, regrets, and fears".

Sakura froze. "I was in that…" she whispered. "I know, that why I called you here so urgently I was hoping you could help break him out of it".

Sakura's head snapped to Tsunade "But I was in that for weeks". Tsunade opened the door "can you just try… look him over at least". Sakura slowly stepped into the room with Tsunade following her in and then shutting the door.

Sakura just started at Kakashi's now porcelain white face and silver lit hair. "I've idolized him my entire life and seeing him like this…" Tsunade came up and put a hand on her shoulder.

'He doesn't even look alive' It scared her that this is what he might look dead. 'I wonder if I looked like this when I was under this genjutsu.'

Sakura walked the rest of the distance between her and her old sensei and grabbed his hand. "Even ANBU ninja get hurt Sakura. They are still only human". With that Tsunade shut the door and left Sakura with Kakashi.

_**Build my walls up  
Concrete castle  
Keep this kingdom free of hassle, yeah**_

Sakura sat down next to him on the cot and reached up to stroke his cheek and run her thumb over the scar over is crimson eye. Her hand smoothed down over his neck and then his collarbone finally resting in the middle of his chest.

Sakura closed her eyes to concentrate on feeling his chakra. 'Its all messed up'. She sighed and put her hand back in her lap. 'There is nothing I can do to get him out of it. He needs to confront his mistakes on his own before the genjutsu drains him of all of his chakra'.

Sakura looked at his barley breathing form. 'I can't bare to see him like this, maybe there is something I can do'. She leaned over and placed on hand on his chest and the other his cheek. 'All I can give him is chakra and maybe try to smooth his out a bit'. What Sakura didn't know is that the genjutsu holding him was very strong.

Before she knew what was happening her world was going black. There was no way she could have anticipated being pulled into his subconscious.

_**I hear sound echo in the emptiness  
All around but you can't change this loneliness  
Look what you've found, I've fallen down  
**_

When Sakura 'woke' up all she saw was the setting sun. Upon standing she saw that she was in the middle of the village yet there was no one around. 'How strange. I wonder how I got here?' Sakura started walking in no particular direction yet some how she ended up walking toward the memorial stone.

That's when she saw him and realized 'I'm in Kakashi's head… '. He was kneeling in front of the stone just staring at it with glazed over eyes. She walked up behind him and could tell he knew she was there. "Sakura, what are you doing here?" he said without turning around. (a/n: Kakashi thinks Sakura isn't real just fyi)

_**Taste the saline rolling down your cheekbone  
Tell me that you're alone, tell me on the telephone**_

Sakura didn't respond instead she just came up behind him and got on her knees to wrap her arms around his middle resting her right cheek on his back. "It's time to wake up now sensei".

"Sakura" his eyes furrowed "what are you doing?"

She sighed. 'This is gonna be harder than I thought'. "You can't hide in here forever sensei. Everyone is waiting for you to wake up". His eyes widened at this.

'But what I've done" He whispered "what I let happen". He bowed his head "I can't wake up".

Sakura's hands slid up to wrap around his neck while she rested her chin on his shoulder. "It doesn't matter anymore. What has happened is in the past, what has been done has been forgiven."

"You have to let go of all of your regrets or you'll never be able to live".

_**Feel your heart it breaks within your chest now  
Try to get some rest now, sleeps not coming easy for a while, child  
**_

Sakura put her hands on his shoulders to help stand herself up. She walked to the front of him and held her hands out to him.

He gabbed her hands to stand up himself then pushed her back against the memorial stone. His mouth was right next to her ear and she could feel his breath on her neck. It sent shivers down her spine.

"You were my one regret".

_**I hear sound echo in the emptiness  
All around but you can't change this loneliness  
Look what you've found, I've fallen down**_

His words made all the memories come rushing back to her. How it all started with her team just leaving her out of training, then it was missions, then hanging out, and eventually she was just left out of their lives.

Kakashi ran his hands up her arms then grabbing her around the middle in a tight hug burying his face in the crook of her neck.

Sakura was frozen she couldn't move. "How could you ever forgive me?"

"I already did". She barley choked out those words, tears threatening to spill down her face. Which was true she had forgiven them but that didn't mean she could face them. She was to scared, too embarrassed.

Sakura wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug with equal force. Kakashi lifted his head to look her in the eyes. Sakura was surprised, she had never seen her sensei look so sad, net even when she finds him in the dark and rain sitting in front of the memorial stone.

Caught up in the moment of it all Kakashi kissed her. And she didn't know what scared her more the fact that he kissed her or that she kissed him back.

_**I hear sound echo in the emptiness  
All around but you can't change this loneliness  
Look what you've found, I've fallen down  
Look at what you've found, I'm falling down**_

Sakura woke up with a start. Panting hard from the all the chakra she lost. She touched her lips remembering the kiss. Her face flushed in an instant. Kakashi started moving around.

'He's waking up!' Sakura panicked. 'I don't want him to know I was here!' She took off running. Out the door, down the stairs, and out of the hospital. She didn't know where she was running but her feet decided to take her to the memorial stone.

She dropped on her knees and leaned against the memorial stone. Its cool feeling texture pressed hard against her face. Tears streamed down her face and she was there for what felt like an eternity.

'I had always liked Kakashi-sensei a little more than the other two. I know I loved all of them but I _really_ loved kakashi-sensei'.

"I think I still do" she whispered to herself. 'But after everything that's happened, how could anything be normal again?'

She closed her eyes and shut out the memories that were starting to surface. "I won't think about that anymore. I'm not a part of their lives. All I can do is go to check on him'.

It was now fully dark out. Sakura rose and raced on the roof tops pack to his hospital room window. Perched on the windowsill she could see he wasn't there.

'He never did like hospitals…' Sakura sighed 'idiot'. She bit her lip in contemplation. 'I really should check on him. He never takes care of himself'. Sakura couldn't count how many times she found him after he returned from a particularly dangerous mission alone in is apartment bleeding because he refused medical attention.

Sakura over the years of training on her own was very stealthy. It was her specialty being able to sneak in buildings to steal documents without getting caught. So sneaking into Kakashi's apartment without him realizing was no problem.

She was relieved to see that he was sleeping with no problems and that he changed the bandages he had on earlier. Sakura stood over his sleeping figure for a minute or two before deciding she should leave.

Before she even reached the door she felt a nagging feeling like she was forgetting something. She couldn't leave. "Stupid feelings" she muttered. She turned back around and sat down in his hallway so she had easy access to the door if he woke up but could still watch him if anything happened. With the amount of chakra he lost she wasn't surprised he was sleeping so well.

'I'll just stay here, just to make sure he's all right'.

Look at what you've found, I'm falling down 

For the past three nights Sakura crept into Kakashi's house and would check on him to make sure he was eating, changing his bandages, and sleeping well. All in all just to make sure he was taking care of himself. Kakashi was known to be a bit of a masochist.

This being the fourth night Sakura decided she had probably crossed over the line to stalking yesterday. Since he was recovering quickly she decided that if he were doing well tonight she would leave him alone from now on.

Well she kind of _had_ to leave him alone after tonight. She had an ANBU mission to go on in the mourning, she didn't know who with since she had forgot to look.

Using her excellent shinobi skills she crept through his hallway and into his room. She sat down on the edge of his bed with her back facing him and rested her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

Sakura smirked. "If you knew I was here you should have just said something".

"And scare you away? Now where would that have gotten me?" Kakashi sat up in his bed. He was only wearing a black T-shirt and his black jounin pants and of course his mask, apparently to lazy to change for sleep.

'I must be getting careless'. Sakura thought as she wondered how to get out of this situation. "I'm sorry if I seem groggy I'm not used to my former students sneaking in my room at night". She could tell he was smiling.

"Well maybe you would have woken up sooner if you bothered to lock your door". 'He was too exhausted to hear me all the other nights'. "I figure if anyone really wanted to get in they could, my locking the door wouldn't change that". Sakura just rolled her eyes. 'Typical Kakashi'.

"What are you doing here Sakura?". 'He asked me that before too…'. "I was concerned I heard you had a rough time on you last mission".

"And I heard you were the one that helped me out of that genjutsu". Sakura stiffened at that. 'I didn't know he knew'.

"I looked for you the other day but I couldn't find you". 'That's because I was avoiding you. I still can't face you. Not after everything'. Sakura sighed and started to stand but was stopped by Kakashi's arm.

Sakura still wasn't facing him but Kakashi had snagged his right arm around her waist and pulled her flat against his chest so she was sitting in his lap.

"I'm so sorry, about everything. I'm so sorry". He was tracing her ANBU tattoo with his free hand. His forehead rested on her shoulder.

'Its too late for that now'. Some of Sakura's old resentment flared up inside.

"I know I can't make up for anything that happened in the past but…" Kakashi trailed off unsure of what to say.

'I know you want to forget the past but I can't forget. Its etched into my mind'

"I miss you Sakura"

'I lost my entire world when you three shut me out'

"You have no idea how much"

'I lost my will to socialize. I was too afraid of being hurt'

"I wish you would stay, don't leave"

'I can't go through this again I have to go, I can't stay. Why don't you understand that?'

"No. I can't stay" Kakashi seemed taken aback. 'Things can never go back to the way they were'.

"You can't or won't stay?"

"Both and neither. When you three shut me out is hurt so much I could feel it deep inside my chest. It physically _hurt_. It hurt to care about you three, it hurt to love you. So I decided I wouldn't. And now I cant. I've forgotten how"

Kakashi was physically sickened by this. The mere thought that he had anything to do with her pain was tearing him up inside. "There is nothing I can do to fix that?" his voice was barley above a whisper.

"Hah. No, there isn't" Kakashi inwardly flinched at her bitter tone. Sakura's resentment had finally overwhelmed her when she thought she was over it. Those sorrowful emotions she thought she had buried came back to haunt her as they always have.

She got up to leave and this time Kakashi didn't stop her.

When she got back to her apartment she fell face first onto her bed in hopes that she could at least get some sleep before her ANBU mission in the mourning.

She didn't know how long she had been laying there before she realized that someone had come into her room. She immediately got up to face whoever it was. She was surprised to find kakashi there.

He took a step toward her. "I realized that you were in your ANBU uniform when you left, and that meant you were probably leaving in the mourning so I didn't have much time".

She took a step back. "Time for what?"

He took another step forward. "To change things".

Sakura took another step back and then realized that there weren't anymore after that, and if he kept walking forward he would be right in front of her.

Kakashi took another step forward. Sakura noticed he didn't bother to get dressed except to put on sandals. He rested his forehead on hers and ran his hands up her arm.

"I might not be able to fix what happened in the past, but I can help you change your future". Sakura didn't like the look he had in his eyes but couldn't bring herself to look away.

"H-how?" She was shaking now unable to stop herself. Kakashi wrapped his right arm around her, holding her tight while his left hand pulled his mask off. "By teaching you how to love again".

And he kissed her. Passionately and hard. And Sakura didn't know what scared her more the fact that he kissed her or that she was kissing him back.

Before she even realized it Sakura fell onto her bed with Kakashi on top of her. They were pulling on hems of shirts and drawstrings of pants. Grabbing, kissing, and holding onto anything they could. Sandals fell across the floor, shirts were flung on the back of chairs. Until nothing was left but skin to skin.

Sakura's hands were tangleh in his silver hair, while Kakashi's were running up and down all over her body.

They didn't stop until they had made love. Over and over again. Until Sakura was panting good and hard and Kakashi was about to faint. He collapsed on top of her and she wrapped her hands around his head.

She kissed his forehead and his temple and said goodnight. Sakura however could not sleep long. She awoke only 3 hours later having to get ready to leave for her ANBU mission. She gently rolled Kakashi off of her and got up to get dressed.

She wrote him a note and kissed his forehead. When she reached the city gate the two other ANBU were waiting for her there. And who it was made her stop in her tracks.

'Oh no its Naruto and Sasuke'. She contemplated turning around but then decided better of it. She wasn't going to hide anymore. So she strode confidently over to them and they looked at her in surprise but them smiled sheepishly.

"Hey Sakura" They both said. "Hey"

They started walking out of the village. 'Maybe I can do this'. "So Sakura" Naruto started. "Have you heard if Kakashi-sensei is alright, we heard he had a rough time on his last mission?" That made Sakura smile.

"Yeah Naruto, he's just fine'. Sakura gave a little involuntary giggle at Naruto's overly relieved face and Sasuke's embarrassed scowl. "That's good!". 'Naruto is just as loud as ever'. Sakura looked at the two of them and they just smiled at her.

'Maybe everything will be all right'.

FIN!

ALL DONE!

You should really listen to that Something Corporate song (one of my fav's) I know that song is a few years old but it's a good one.


End file.
